[SOLVED] Accidentally spilt a little bit of water on my PC.

[moonixly]

So my cat knocked over a cup of water and it spilt mostly 90% on my desk; however some fell on the top of my PC (It was on; but I instantly shut it down as I saw it happen). My PC has open holes at the top and then a second layer underneath where all the USB/ETHERNET cables connect before any of it reaches my components.

I took off the lid and all the sides, plus the back section and checked for wet spots. I couldn’t find anything besides a single droplet on the PSU case on the top, and I checked all around it to make sure there wasn’t any gaping puddles.

I checked the CPU, GPU and HDD/SSD’s and I couldn’t find any massive amounts of water either, a single droplet maybe on a casing in that section; they’re not flat laying down etc they’re like on a side angle. The water was mainly on the fans; in which I removed and dried properly and double checked before putting them back in and I dried around the entirety of the case and inside too and once again double checked for any missed water and I couldn’t find any. Most of the water was stopped by these dust protectors I have or was largely on the fans.

I turned it on briefly after drying it all to check it turned on and it does and there is no issues with anything. I checked the temperatures of the fans and they were fine as are the temperatures for everything else. The RGB works on everything still too, I checked all the systems were working and connected - Internet, Mouse, Keyboard, HDMI and those are fine too. Then I turned it off after briefly checking all those.

Now I just want to know how long should I keep it off to make sure it’s dry. My house is pretty warm currently so I am not sure if that will make a difference. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Typically 24-48 hours should be good enough. You can accelerate this by having a large fan blowing air on the computer with an open case.

 

[moonixly]

Typically 24-48 hours should be good enough. You can accelerate this by having a large fan blowing air on the computer with an open case.

I have a large fan blowing air into an open case as I have a portable fan etc so I have that going!

 

[DSzymborski]

Yup, a couple days will do it. You're very lucky; you should never turn a PC that has had a liquid spill on before that drying period, no matter how tempting it is to check!

 

[moonixly]

Yup, a couple days will do it. You're very lucky; you should never turn a PC that has had a liquid spill on before that drying period, no matter how tempting it is to check!

Thank you, I realise that now 😭 I just wanted to make sure I checked but I guess I was in a panic mode and didn’t think.

 

[KyaraM]

Yup, a couple days will do it. You're very lucky; you should never turn a PC that has had a liquid spill on before that drying period, no matter how tempting it is to check!

Yupp, this. Always wait before turning it on, never do so immediately after cleaning the fluid away in case something did indeed spill somewhere you missed. The same goes for all devices, btw, including smartphones, keyboards, headphones, etc. They can survive water in most cases if you let them dry properly, but not if you turn them so shortly after the spill. You seem to have gotten lucky there. And next time, maybe place the glass on the other side of the table so nothing can happen in case your cat decides to jump on the table again 😉

 

[moonixly]

Yupp, this. Always wait before turning it on, never do so immediately after cleaning the fluid away in case something did indeed spill somewhere you missed. The same goes for all devices, btw, including smartphones, keyboards, headphones, etc. They can survive water in most cases if you let them dry properly, but not if you turn them so shortly after the spill. You seem to have gotten lucky there. And next time, maybe place the glass on the other side of the table so nothing can happen in case your cat decides to jump on the table again 😉

Yeah! I won’t be doing either of those things after today! Do you recommend 24/48 hours amount of time for drying too, like everyone else? It was only on for like 3 minutes at tops when I turned it back on as I have a temperature loader for when my PC loads up but yeah I realise now that I shouldn’t have but I appreciate the advice as I am clueless sometimes!

 

[DSzymborski]

Yeah! I won’t be doing either of those things after today! Do you recommend 24/48 hours amount of time for drying too, like everyone else? It was only on for like 3 minutes at tops when I turned it back on as I have a temperature loader for when my PC loads up but yeah I realise now that I shouldn’t have but I appreciate the advice as I am clueless sometimes!

I'd probably do it even longer for expensive equipment and wipe it with isopropyl alcohol. It's not the water itself that causes the problem, the trace minerals, salts, and other substances. Water on its own is a very poor conductor of electricity; tap water is a multitude of times more conductive than distilled water.

 

[Karadjgne]

Open containers. Coffee, travel mug with a lid. Water, bottle with a cap. Soda, bottle with a cap or travel mug with a lid. There's nothing saying you should game totally dry or dying of hunger, just the contrary, you should have snacks and liquids handy to add to the enjoyment of your gaming experience. But there are things that can be done to mitigate damages done by freak happenings like cats jumping on the desk. 😁

 

[Satan-IR]

All of the above, plus maybe change where the case is to prevent future spills!